Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

A film set in a large house in the American south. At a ball in 1927 a man is killed. Nobody is tried, but the town decides who did it: Charlotte, the daughter of the house. Years pass. Charlotte is still in the same house, alone and never going out. The town has not forgotten; children sing a song in front of the house. Now the house has to come down for a road. Charlotte refuses. Her cousin Miriam comes to help. She lives in the city, is orderly and calm; she settles in and takes over. After that strange things start happening in the house: sounds at night, a hand that appears, a piano that plays. Charlotte begins to doubt her own mind and the people around her confirm it. The tension comes from there: is the woman really losing her mind, or does someone want that. Bette Davis plays Charlotte and Olivia de Havilland plays Miriam. The part had first gone to another actress who left after shooting began, and de Havilland took over. Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead and Mary Astor are in the cast. Robert Aldrich directed; he had made a film of similar shape two years earlier and this came after it. A solid choice for anyone who likes gothic thrillers and the late films of classic Hollywood performers. Before you watch, know this: the film opens with a harsh image of violence.